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Pro's and con's of homeschooling.

my dd is in the 2nd grade and then I have in preschool she will be in kindergarden next year. I am talking to k12 about homeschooling I have to ssend her birth certificate and stuff yet, but the reason I am looking into homeschooling s because it has to be easier than what we are oing now. It doesn't make sense because my dd got straight A's and B's all year last year teachers never said anything. The teacher this year said she wouldn't have passed her last year had she had her. She said she is below average in her reading so we get a letter from in the mail that she is behind and that she needs to read 90 minutes a day. Well they also want her to do tutoring after school so she is doing this monday-thursday she doesn't get home until 530 then we eat dinner so she doesn't get started on homework until 6 or after (plus I have a 4.5 year old and a 15 month old). Well, they gave me flash cards they want me to flash her each night which is 338 words so this is all the homework she has to do each night which she gets home at 530 so don't start until 6. she gets flashed 338 flash cards, then she has anywhere from 1-3 pages of homework on top of that her 16 spelling words she has to study. Then she a book she is supost to bring home each night to read and tested on well she has been bringing home 10 books (((10))) to read because they want her to read 90 minutes. so she doesn't have a life. She is going to school until 530 eats dinner then starts on homework and doing homework until bedtime. This is the first week of tutoring so I don't even know how I am going to do it tonight she gets home at 530 goes to girlscouts at 6-730. I don't want to tak her out of girlscouts because they are slamming her with all of this homework daily. So I am thinking of homeschooling. Then on top of all that I have to get all the girls bathed and ready for bed (bedtime is 830 for the older to and 7 or 730 for the baby).

Well, I homeschooled my two younger sons, my oldest went to private school until I got pregnant with my 2nd, then he went to public school. He graduated from public high school. My younger two started out in public school, then I homeschooled starting when the middle son was in the middle of third grade. My middle son went back to school in the 6th grade, my youngest son decided to continue homeschooling all the way through high school and started college at 15.

I took my boys out of school because my middle son was as I said, in the middle of 3rd grade, and scoring below 1st grade level in every single subject. When he went back to school at the beginning of 6th grade, he scored at 17th grade level (yes, that's post graduate) in reading, and high school or college level in every single subject. And, as I said, the youngest started college at 15.

I actually really loved homeschooling. I was terrified when we started because I wanted them to be able to go to college, and I didn't want to screw them up. But, I finally decided middle son wasn't getting anything from the school system, I couldn't do any worse than they were doing.

We were very structured. We did school from 8am to 3:30 pm with three breaks a day. They didn't need homework. We did lots of field trips and hands on activities, and I spent most of my time all of those years planning lessons, teaching, grading and researching. It paid off, both boys are in college now.

Some people take a more relaxed approach, you have to decide what your goals are.

The pros are that you have control of their environment, you can take more time with subjects they enjoy, and you know your child's strengths and weakness's implicitly and can accommodate them. If they're sick, they don't get behind. I

If they like dinosaurs, you can choose to do a long section on dinosaurs for science, or if they have difficulty with reading, you can incorporate it into all of your other subjects. You can put them in t-ball or dance for P,E.

The cons are, that if conjugating verbs isn't your thing, or doing fractions throws you for a loop, you have to be able to find help or figure it out. Homeschooling is a huge job....at least the way we did it, and you need to be prepared.

There are great homeschool groups in my area. People will tell you they won't get enough socialization, but that is up to you.

Only while kids are in school do they associate primarily with people from the same neighborhood, generally similar economic background, and almost exactly the same age. My kids did P.E. with other homeschoolers from age 4 to 16, they went on field trips and met people of all

I have my degree in education. In order to do a decent job teaching all 5 of mine at their level, I wouldn't have enough time left over at the end of the day to clean my house, cook the meals, or do much of anything else.
I've seen homeschooling done really well and I've seen it done very poorly. Pros are getting to spend more time with your kid and scheduling your school time as desired. The cons are never having time away (for you and your kid), your child doesn't learn how to work with a teacher who may have a different teaching style (doubtless at some point she will have to, even if it's in college), and most times I don't see homeschooled kids experiencing much diversity.

Homeschooling is a huge time investment. I homeschool both of my sons. I'm lucky to have a job (I'm a writer, as you can see by my screen name lol) that I can do on my own schedule, rather than specific hours. But I spend a few hours a day with the actually schooling, plus a few hours several times a week planning lessons, preparing materials, grading (not in the traditional, public school style), and looking for new sources of (accurate) materials and resources. Then around that, there's house cleaning, cooking, and my work - many nights I'm up until midnight or later.

Since a big portion of her day is spent at school, it'll probably average out that you'll spend about the same amount of time working with her as you do now. You'll just be doing it during the school day rather than after, and be primarily responsible for her education. And you are primarily responsible for it. (con't)

If she doesn't do well in something - that's on you. You have to be incredibly honest, as well. You have to be able to acknowledge and admit your weaknesses so that you can either study up and strengthen those areas, or find someone else who can teach those areas - otherwise, you shortchange your child by not giving her the skills and knowledge she needs to navigate life after school.

On the other hand, you do have more "free" time than you do with public school. We spend 3-5 hours a day (depending on the day) actively schooling. While I end up working on my writing or planning more lessons after that, it is more "free" time that we can spend with friends or doing other things that we didn't do while they were in school. And some days we do that - others it's just free time that they can go outside and play, read a book, etc.

The socialization argument is complete and utter bull, unless you choose to be a shut in. (con't)

Frankly, even with me working on my writing, we still spend more time with friends and family, getting out and doing things, than we did while they were in public school. And the friends they have made through our homeschooling group are much more diverse than they ever had in their public school. They meet people of all ages, races, cultures, pretty much anything you can think of that might make someone "diverse" - they meet them. And that contributes to their education - when they meet someone who is, for example, dressed in Indian (as in the country) clothing, my kids won't hesitate to approach and say "That's a unique outfit. Can I ask where you are from and is this daily clothing or something special you're wearing for an occasion?"

Ultimately, you have to decide what is best for your daughter - and the rest of your family. It will affect your whole family, and it will hurt more than help if everyone isn't committed.